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1 DONALDSON Hominy Mill. No. 26,893. Patented Jany 24, 1860.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN DONALDSON, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

SEPARATOR FOR HOMINY-MILLS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 26,893, dated January 24, 1860.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. DONALDSON, of Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Separating Attachment to be Applied to Hominy-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a vertical section of a hominy mill with my invention, applied to it, :20, a, Fig. 2, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 2, is a back view of ditto, in elevation. Fig. 3, is a detached plan or top view of a portion of the principal screen of ditto.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to separate the hulls from the cracked or broken grain as the latter is discharged from the cracking apparatus.

The invention is more especially designed to be applied to a hominy mill patented by Ezra Fahrney May 15th, 1855, and January 5th, 1858, but it is applicable to any mill for the purpose which has its discharge opening at the bottom of a stationary cylinder or shell.

The invention consists in the employment or use of a fan and blast spout, screens, and a rigid and flexible board arranged rela tively with each other and the discharge opening of the stationary cylinder or shell as hereinafter described.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents a horizontal hollow cylinder which is firmly secured between two uprights a, a, or in any suitable framing. The cylinder A, is stationary and has within any suitable revolving cracking apparatus as shown in the machine of Ezra Fahrney previously alluded to. The cylinder has an opening Z), in its upper part covered by a valve 0, and an opening (Z, is at its lower end and rovided with a flap e, the opening (Z, and ap 6, extending the whole length of the cylinder. The valve 0, and flap 6, are opened and closed automatically and intermittingly so that a certain quantity of corn is admitted into the cylinder A, and sufficiently cracked and discharged, and then a succeeding quantity admitted into the cylinder. This is the operation of the F ahrney machine.

Directly below the cylinder A, a board f, is placed. This board f, has an upright board 9, secured to its back edge by hinges IL, which is so constructed as to have a sufficient degree of elasticity to keep the upper end of board g, against the cylinder, see Fig.

1. To the back end of the board 7 a screen 2',

is attached. This screen extends down underneath the opening (1, and flap 6, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The lower end of the screen is placed between the lower parts of the uprights a, a, and has its front end supported by rockers is, 7:, which are attached to the bases of the uprights a, a. The back end of the screen is connected to a lever Z, which has its fulcriun at one end at m, and at the inner side of one of the uprights a, as shown clearly in Figs. 2, and 3. The screen j, is connected to about the center of the lever Z, and the end of lever Z, is connected to a rod a, which is attached to a toothed wheel 0, at a suitable point between its axis and periphery.

B, is a revolving fan which may be constructed in the usual or in any proper way. This fan B, is placed within a suitable case 79, having a spout 9, attached on the upper part of which the board 7" is placed and allowed to slide. The fan, fan-case and spout, extend the whole length of cylinder A, and the same may be said of the screens 2', and j. The fan B, may be rotated by a belt from the shaft r, of the cracker within the cylinder A, and the toothed wheel 0, may be rotated by a pinion 011 the end of said shaft.

The operation is as follows :The shaft 1, is rotated by any convenient power, and the corn by means of suitable mechanism allowed to pass in certain quantities into the cylinder A, and when cracked discharged therefrom by the opening of the flap e. The cracked corn as it is discharged from the cylinder A falls on the screen i, and thence passes down on the screen j, the cracked corn as it passes over screen i, being subjected to a blast from the fan B, which blows the hulls therefrom and whatever light foreign substances may 105 be contained in it. The particles or substances too heavy to be acted on by the blast pass through the upper and finer portion of the screw j, while the hominy passes down to its lower end perfectly separated from all impuritiesE-Tbe screw 11, j, as well as the boards f, g, having a shake motion giventhem through the medium of the rod n, and Z,' the elasticity of the hinges h, or their equivalents keeping the upper edge of board g, 'in'contact with the cylinder A, so that said board may always serve as an efiectual partition and still allowed to vibrate with the screens.

JOHN DONALDSON.

Witnesses:

IsAAo UTTER, HENRY SEARS. 

